Mauritania ? A former army general who seized power by overthrowing this Islamic republic’s first freely elected president last year is gunning for Mauritania’s presidency again — this time legitimately, through the ballot box.

Saturday’s election represents a chance for the coup-plagued desert nation, which straddles the Arab and African worlds, to end decades of military rule and resurrect billions of dollars in frozen aid once pledged by international donors. But in a country where military strongmen wield more power and influence than the constitution or any written law, neither task will be easy.

Junta leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz “already took power wearing a military uniform,” 39-year-old car salesman Yacoub Brahim said of the race’s top contender — who resigned from the army in April so he could legally run for office.

“Now he’s trying to take over again dressed as a civilian, but it’s a disguise,” Brahim said. “He’s only interested in power.”